Roundtable on Asymmetric Warfare: Lessons from Operation Protective Edge
The Israel Democracy Institute 4 Pinsker Street, Jerusalem
By invitation only
When a democracy fights a terrorist organization, "victory" becomes an elusive concept. Dilemmas such as the benefits of exerting military and economic pressure on civilian populations and the growing reliance on military intelligence for military achievements accompany the fighting, and are joined by the battle over the narrative, the image.
On Monday December 8, 2014, from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, IDI's Amnon Lipkin-Shahak Center for Security and Democracy and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung hosted a roundtable devoted to military and media aspects of asymmetric warfare, as they emerged during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
The first part of the discussion focused on military aspects of the Operation—the elusive nature of the concept of victory in this type of warfare, the benefits of exerting military and economic pressure on the civilian population, leverage on military and economic population, the significance of the growing reliance on military intelligence for military achievements, and more. The second part of the roundtable was devoted to a discussion of the image war and the war over the narrative, both during Operation Protective Edge and after its conclusion, and explored the impact of the image war on the diplomatic front and the battle for public opinion.
This Hebrew event was broadcast live on the IDI website and will be available for viewing on Youtube shortly.
The event was convened under the leadership of Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer, Admiral (Ret.) Ami Ayalon, and Adv. Eli Bahar.
Greetings
- Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer, Vice President of Research, Israel Democracy Institute
- Dr. Michael Borchard, Director, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Israel
Session One: Military Aspects of Operation Protective Edge
Moderator: Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer
Participants:
- Admiral (Ret.) Ami Ayalon, Senior Fellow, the Israel Democracy Institute; Former Director of the Israeli Security Agency
- Adv. Eli Bahar, Researcher, The Israel Democracy Institute
- MK Omer Bar-Lev, Member, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
- Brigadier General (res.) Moni Chorev
- Brigadier General (ret.) Rachel Dolev, Advocate
- Major General (res.) Yitzhak Eitan
- Ms. Amira Hass, Journalist, Haaretz
- Dr. Anat Hochberg-Marom, Expert on international terrorism
- Brigadier General (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, Former Director General, Ministry of Strategic Affairs; Former Head of the Analysis and Production Division of the Israeli Defense Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence (Aman)
- Prof. Shaul Mishal, Head of the Division of Middle East Studies, IDC Herzliya; Brian Mulroney Professor of Government and Political Science at Tel Aviv University
- Brigadier General (res.) Israela Oron, Board member, Council for Peace and Security
- Mr. Amir Bar Shalom, Military Analyst, Channel 1
- Dr. Matti Steinberg, Researcher and lecturer
Session Two: Winning the Image War
Moderator: Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, Israel Democracy Institute
Participants:
- Admiral (Ret.) Ami Ayalon, Senior Fellow, the Israel Democracy Institute; Former Director of the Israeli Security Agency
- Mr. Amir Bar Shalom, Military Analyst, Channel 1
- Mr. Nitzan Chen, Head of the Government Press Office
- Dr. Orna Cohen, The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Mr. Uri Dromi, Director, The Jerusalem Press Club
- Mr. Charles Enderlin, Journalist, Bureau Chief, French Television
- Ms. Gaby Goldman, Union of Journalists in Israel
- Mr. Joel Greenberg, Jerusalem Correspondent, McClatchy Newspapers
- Ms. Amira Hass, Journalist, Haaretz
- Mr. Hanoch Marmari, Editor, The Seventh Eye Journal
- Mr. Avi Primor
- Hans-Christian Rössler, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
- Mr. Moshe Shlonsky, Department of Communications, Yezreel Valley College
- Ms. Tamar Sternhal, Director, CAMERA, Israel office
- Mr. David Witzthum, Journalist, Channel 1; Author of Special Newscast
